Kerrville Independent School District board of trustees candidate Brandon Aery’s penchant for sharing Christmas-themed photos mocking people of color, immigrants and the homeless continued to churn up artifacts, including a new batch of photos submitted to The Lead anonymously.
Aery never responded to the first questions from The Lead about a series of Christmas-themed photos where he’s dressed in high heels and stockings, another where he’s holding an assault rifle with the words “may all your Christmases be white,” and one where the Aery family presents itself as homeless.
Aery is a fixture at school board meetings and was engaged in the battle over books at the Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library. His campaign literature says he’s running against identity politics and teaching Critical Race Theory in the schools. Aery’s loudest comments have been about what he’s deemed as sexually-explicit content in the KISD libraries, but he’s also singled out a book about the Black Lives Matter movement. The Aerys asked for at least 17 books to be removed and reviewed from KISD libraries.
In a radio interview last year, Aery said that a book at the library was a guide to guys “sucking dick.” The book referred to was a graphic comic book entitled “Gender Queer,” one of the most challenged books in the U.S. over the last few years.
In this latest batch of photos, Aery, his wife, Clarissa, and the couple’s two children don what can best be described as a look popularized by Black rap musicians. Aery features face tattoos, gold teeth and chains. Across his neck are the words, written in a graffiti-like font, “DJ Chris Maz.” Clarissa Aery wears similar attire. The family also posted photos with sagging pants and another where they’re posing in front of a Cadillac Escalade SUV.
Aery is running against longtime incumbent Jack Stevens, representing District 2 on the board. Only residents living in the north Kerrville boundary can vote in the election.
The photo dump also included images of the family’s homeless Christmas, where they staged a faux campsite along a busy road and held signs. The couple also produced photos of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent arresting a Santa Claus character dressed in a sombrero and exaggerated pointy boots.
The Christmas cards have raised questions about the family’s sense of humor, taste, and whether the images are racist, degrading to those in lower socioeconomic states or just bad judgment.
Aery is part of a “patriot-backed” group of candidates in Kerrville, including Kerrville City Council candidates Roman Garcia and Barbara Dewell Ferguson. Aery has the backing of radio host and Pct. 1 Commissioner Harley Belew. The school board candidate has the support of several right-wing groups, including Moms for Liberty, which organized nationwide book protests last year.
